After The Death Cure
by Mgom1247
Summary: This is after the Maze Runner Trilogy written by James Dashner. It basically shows what they did next and you'll probably have to read the books first to understand what is going on... so please review.


Chapter 1

The shock of everything that had happened stuck with Thomas throughout the night. First, Teresa died trying to save him. Then Brenda with the kiss... he didn't know what to feel. Guilt? Surprise? Relief? It was all so confusing. "Shuck it," he said to himself as he headed back towards the woods where Minho decided they would live. Brenda had left about half an hour after they kissed, leaving Thomas to his thoughts. He started down the cliff a little while after, still deep in thought when he reached the living area.

Surprisingly, the food search parties had returned with various herbs and fruit. Frypan did what he could with what he had and made a decent meal, but when it came time to eat, Thomas could barely keep anythng down. Images of Chuck dying in his arms, Alby jumping on the Griever, Newt begging for death, and Teresa crushed underneath the giant slab of concrete ceiling filled his mind. Minho seemed to notice and looked a bit concerned," What's wrong, shank? No reason to be all mopey, we escaped! What's bad about that?" he said. Thomas was surprised by a sudden rush of annoyance. He dropped his makeshift fork," Yeah, we escaped," his voice shook," But look at who we lost in doing that, Minho! Alby, Chuck, Teresa, New-" Thomas stopped abruptly, almost giving himself away. "Nevermind," he said as he got up and walked into the woods. He wondered if he should confess. He wondered if he should tell Minho that he had killed Newt.

_ No_, Thomas scolded himself, _Don't even go there. You did what you had to do. He begged for it. It was for the best. You are not a murderer._

Everything he'd gone through, everything he'd done all came rushing back. As he walked through the woods, he felt an overwhelming sense of recognition. These woods were so similar to the woods behind the deadheads in the Maze. The Maze. It seemed like two lifetimes ago. It seemed silly, almost stupid to Thomas how... rebellious he had been. He got into so much trouble as a greenie in the Maze. Had he really been that curious? He certainly wasn't curious now. Now he was...cautious, traumatized even. Once again, he had no idea what to feel. It made him want to scream.

Thomas heard loud footsteps, interrupting his thoughts. It sounded as if someone was running. _Must be Minho,_ Thomas thought. He turned around and saw that he was correct. "What the heck!?" Minho scolded, sounding a bit hurt," What was that, you shank?!" he questioned, clearly wanting answers. " Newt is not dead, Thomas. He's just a little crazy. Right?" He looked at Thomas with hopeful eyes, expecting him to agree. "Uh..." He had to tell him. That couldn't be denied. He had to do it," Well I..." Minho waited expectantly. He couln't do it. "Yeah, I geuss. Although, we'll probably never see him again, so he's as good as dead." Thomas hated how shallow and insensitive it sounded. A brief look of pain flashed across Minho's face. "I'm sorry, Minho. I'm just trying to let go," Thomas said, guilt and shame washing over his face. Minho didn't seem fased,"Ah, it's alright. Tryin' to do the same thing right here," he said, pointing at himself. Thomas felt a surge of relief. " I just don't see how we can move on. How can we continue with our lives without them? Without Newt, Chuck, Teresa, and even Alby?" Thomas felt hot tears forming behind his eyes. " Don't worry, Thomas," Minho said," We're alive. Even though we lost friends along the way, even though the world is full of chaos, Thomas, we are alive." Hearing Minho sound so hopeful, so optimistic, instantly cheered Thomas up. he decided that he would tell Minho about Newt eventually, but not now. Only when it's absolutely necessary. He couldn't ruin the hope and optimistic attitude that Minho felt. For now, he'd stay true to what he'd sworn to himself.

As they headed back, Minho changed the subject, "I think we should make some rules," he said. " I think we should run it like the glade with Keepers and klunk." Minho glance at Thomas. He seemed anxious to hear his opinion. "Good thinking," was all Thomas could say. "I know," Minho said, pretending to be arrogant, "And you're gonna be a Keeper. Maybe you can be like Newt," Minho said. Minho regretted what he'd said immediately after he'd said it. He tried to cover it up by adding,"And I'll be like Alby." Thomas knew that Minho was trying to emphasize what he'd said earlier, so he didn't say anything. Neither of them spoke for a long time. "Newt and Alby can't be replaced, Minho. They can't," Thomas said finally. Minho looked down in shame. Thomas felt a little walked to the camp in silence, each boy deep in thought. Minho broke the silence," You should get some rest, Thomas. It'll do you good," was all he said. Then, a little quieter he added, "Everything will be better in the morning."

Thomas awoke to the bright sun. He was surprised to see that many of the refugees were still asleep, snoring quietly. He scanned the ground full of people. They looked so peaceful, like they had no worries. There were no traces of terrifying nightmares on anyone's face or anything. That's what Thomas thought they'd all go through, nightmares from the past haunting them. He was surprised even more when he realised that he himself hadn't had any nightmares, not even a memory. It was wierd how at ease he'd felt; how peaceful and safe. He looked around again and saw that Minho was awake, though laying down. He was staring at the sky through the trees, obviously deep in thought. Minho suddenly sat up, sensing someone was awake. He looked around and saw that it was Thomas. Minho jerked his head in the direction that led deeper into the woods. Thomas understood the gesture and nodded his head. He slowly got up, as to not wake the other survivors. Minho did the same.

When they were deep enough in the woods, Thomas began," So what are we gonna do order-wise?" he asked. Minho seemed surprised at the question, apparently thinking that Thomas would want to talk about something else. He recovered quickly, "Like I said, I wanna run this place like the Glade. It worked there and it will work here." Minho said, like it was obvious. "Okay." Thomas replied. Minho continued, "I thought that we should have Runners. Maybe we could have them explore the island," Minho said. Thomas thought it was a good idea," Alright, but since you're already the leader of everything else, who'll be the Keeper of the Runners?" Thomas already knew the answer, but he wanted to make sure. Minho rolled his eyes, "You will, shuck-face. I meant it back in the Maze. You should have been Keeper from the start. Besides, who else is as qualified as you? Brenda? Jorge? Frypan?" Minho snickered, "Gally?" Thomas knew he was kidding, but it still stung a little when he'd said Gally's name, as if he were more qualified than Thomas. He shook it off and asked, "Do I get a say in this?" Minho nodded, "What do you recommend, Tommy?" Thomas winced when Minho called him Tommy. Newt had called him that. "I think that not only do we need to keep the original jobs, but we need a couple more. More people comes with more responsibility." He'd said it in a way that made him seem like he'd been half joking and half serious. Minho nodded in agreement, "We'll need some people to take care of the little guys," he said. Thomas had forgotten that there were children, "Yeah. We don't know how to deal with kids." He didn't know if anyone actually could care for them. Surely someone would be able to. If not, than those babies and children wouln't be able to survive. Thomas suddenly remembered when WICKED had taken over his body and made him attack Minho and Brenda.

_"Man, you wigged out big-time. You remember all that?" "Of course I do." A wave of embarrassment made Thomas' face flush hot. "But it was like I was paralyzed or something. I kept trying, but I couldn't stop whatever was controlling me." "Dude, you tried to slice my you-know-whats off!" Minho exclaimed. Thomas laughed, something he hadn't done in a long time. He welcomed it happily. "Too bad I didn't. Could've saved the world from future little Minhos."_

He didn't know why he'd recalled it, it just came to him. _Man that was crazy,_ he thought to himself, _can't believe I actually did that. _Thomas was still deep in thought when Minho snapped his fingers in front of Thomas," Earth to Thomas, Earth to Thomas. Still there Tommy? Thoooooommaaaassss." He looked up, pretending to be annoyed," What do you want shuck-face?" Minho laughed," I had an idea. While you're brain was takin' a shuck vacation, I thought of something. I even took the intitiative to write it out." He hadn't realized it until then, but Thomas and Minho were sitting on the ground. He looked at the dirt and saw what Minho had written:

Glade #2 Jobs and Council

Jobs 1. Security 2. Farmers &amp; Scavengers 3. Runners 4. Builders 5. Cooks 6. Nurturers 7. Hunters 8. Slicers

Council/Keepers

Me= chair/ leader Thomas= Keeper of runners Brenda= Keeper of hunters Frypan= Keeper of cooks Aris= Keeper of farmers &amp; scavengers Harriot= Keeper of nurturers Gally= Keeper of builders Bill= Keeper of slicers Jorge= Keeper of security

Thomas studied it, surprised that Minho had done anything at all. "Who's Bill?" he asked. "One of the best slicers we had back in the Glade," Minho said. "It's sick to think that it doesn't bug those people when they kill animals, it's shucking sick." Minho had a look of disgust on his face as he said it. "Either way, both the hunters and the slicers might not even exist. The only way they will is if we can find one shuck animal on this island or figure out how to catch fish." Minho gestured in the direction towards the ocean. Thomas nodded," Then, you'd have to call the hunters fishers, and I don't think Brenda would like that very much." Thomas looked again," Why'd you name it 'Glade number two'?" It bugged Thomas for some strange reason. "I don't know. It just seemed right to call this place the Glade. Besides, I'm not THAT creative," Minho said. "You came up with eight jobs and nine keepers in less than a day and you're not creative? You have some high expectations, shank." Thomas started to get up. "You remember that list you made," he said, "And hurry up. I want to go back." Minho stared at it for a while. "Okay, I got it." Thomas gave him a look that told him he didn't belive a word of that. "Hey, two years of memorizing maps does your memory good, my friend," he said, pointing to his head. Thomas shook his own, "Good for you. Let's just get back. Maybe there'll be leftovers from dinner. Or even better, breakfast." Minho nodded and they started to walk back. After a while, they started running. They ran in silence the rest of the way, buried in their thoughts.


End file.
